Thursday, 12 July 2012

Painter of silence ~ Georgina Harding

It is the early 1950s. A
nameless man is found on the steps of the hospital in Iasi, Romania. He
is deaf and mute, but a young nurse named Safta recognizes him from the
past and brings him paper and pencils so that he might draw. Gradually,
memories appear on the page: the man is Augustin, the cook's son at the
manor house at Poiana, where Safta was the privileged daughter. Born
six months apart, they had a connection that bypassed words, but while
Augustin's world stayed the same size, Safta's expanded to embrace
languages, society, and a fleeting love one long, hot summer. But then
came war, and in its wake a brutal Stalinist regime, and nothing would
remain the same.

Not for me. I found this book very slow and didn't feel as if I connected with the characters at all. I think this must be one of those books that is described as a 'marmite' book as i have read some reviews where people loved it and others that also found it very slow.